Multiport receptacle connector having emi shell interlocked to partitioning wall for preventing warpage

ABSTRACT

A receptacle connector comprising an insulative housing having a base portion; a plurality of terminals retained in the insulative housing; and a shielding shell assembled on the insulative housing. The shielding shell comprises a pair of sidewalls opposite to each other and forming a mating cavity therebetween. The insulative housing further including an alignment wall extending into the mating cavity from the base portion to partition the mating cavity into a number of mating openings, one of the mating opening having a shape different from another. Wherein at least one of the sidewalls has a bent portion bent from a front edge thereof, and the bent portion defines a hook at the tip thereof for adapting to retention at least one hole of the alignment wall of the insulative housing. Therefore, the strength of the receptacle connector may be improved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a receptacle connector, especially to areceptacle connector having EMI shell having anchors interlocked topartition wall so as to prevent the shell from warpage.

2. Description of the Related Art

Portable computer, lap top computer have become quite popular in recentyears, and a connecting system is therefore necessary between the laptop computer and peripheral device such as display. This connectingsystem like a docking station includes a cable having one end with oneconnector usually connecting to a docking connector of the lap top andanother end with various connectors connecting to the peripheral device.One of the various connectors may typically be HDMI (High DefinitionMultimedia Interface), USB, IEEE1394 or display port connector andothers.

HDMI is popular interface in recent years by virtue of its advantage.HDMI connector of peripheral device can mate with correspondingconnector on the docking station and transfer HDMI signals through thedocking connector on the lap top computer. For example, a peripheraldevice having an HDMI interface can interconnect with the laptopcomputer by an HDMI cable assembly or the docking station. So, a popularconnector is used frequently and there is a need the popular connectorsuch as HDMI connector can be used without the docking station, andthere is another requirement that it is not increase manufacture cost ofthe lap top computer, but also make a user convenient in a certain case.

Therefore, an improved receptacle connector is desired to overcome thedisadvantages of the related arts.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a electrical connectorassembly with improving strength thereof.

In order to achieve above-mentioned object, An connector assemblycomprising: an receptacle connector including an insulative housinghaving a base portion; a plurality of terminals retained in theinsulative housing; and a metal unit assembled on the insulativehousing. The metal unit comprises a pair of sidewalls opposite to eachother and forming a mating cavity therebetween. The insulative housingfurther including an alignment wall extending into the mating cavityfrom the base portion to partition the mating cavity into a number ofmating openings, one of the mating openings having a shape differentfrom another. wherein at least one of the sidewalls of the metal unithas an interlock extending from a front edge thereof to engage with thealignment wall of the insulative housing. Therefore, the strength of theelectrical connector assembly may be improved.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description of thepresent embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment made in accordancewith the present invention in which a receptacle connector having a pairof interfaces which can alternatively receive a cable connectorincorporated a single connector or a cable connector with two differentconnectors therein are described;

FIG. 2 is an illusration showing the receptacle connector is mating witha cable connector with two different interfaces;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the receptacle connector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear and bottom view of the receptacle connector with ashielding shell and supporting bracket removed therefrom;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled receptacle connector;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the shielding shell and the supportingbracket viewing from a bottom thereof;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section view taken along a line 7-7 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the receptacle connector shown inFIG. 5, with the receptacle connector mounted on the Printed CircuitBoard (PCB);

FIG. 9 is a side view of the receptacle connector with the PCB shown inFIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an receptacle connector in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the receptacle connector shown in FIG.10.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe thepreferred embodiments of the present invention in detail.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 2, a receptacle connector 1 made in accordancewith the present invention includes first and second mating openings 126and 127 to interconnect with a first cable connector 2 having an HDMIinterface 20A and another interface 20B, or alternatively, a secondcable connector 3 having an HDMI interface 30.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 4, the receptacle connector 1 includes aninsulative housing 10, a plurality of first terminals 11A and secondterminals 11B retained in the insulative housing 10, a shielding shell12 covering the insulative housing 10 and a supporting bracket 13attached to the shielding shell 12, the shielding shell 12 and thesupporting bracket 13 are made of conductive material.

The insulative housing 10 is provided with a base portion 101, a firsttongue portion 102A, a second tongue portion 102B and an alignment wall103 forward extending from the base portion 101, respectively. Thealignment wall 103 is located between and perpendicular to the firsttongue portions 102A and the second tongue portion 102B, and thealignment wall is providing a robust guiding arrangement when bothconnector are mating. The base portion 101 has a concavity 105 at rearbottom thereof, thereby a mounting surface 106 for mounting on the PCB100 (shown in FIG. 9) is higher than the bottom of the base portion 101to reduce the thickness of the receptacle connector on the PCB. Thealignment wall 103 and the base portion 101 are on a same level at theirtop face. Each of the tongue portions 102A, 102B is provided with thefirst terminals 11A and the second teminals 11B with different pitcharrangements, respectively, and each of the first and second terminalsis formed with retaining portions secured to the base portion 101 of theinsulative housing 10, and further includes a contact portion 110A, 110Bextending forward from one end of the retaining portion along acorresponding passageway of the tongue portion 102A,102B and a solderportion 111A,111B extending backward from another end of the retainingportion beyond the mounting surface 106 of the insulative housing 10 forconnecting with PCB.

With referring to FIGS. 3, 5and 7, the shielding shell 12 is assembledon the insulative housing 10 for preventing the receptacle connectorfrom EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference). The shielding shell 12 definesan upper sidewall 121, lower sidewall 122 and a pair of endwalls 123 a,123 b interconnecting with the upper and lower sidewalls 121,122 therebyforming a mating cavity 120 thereamong. A pair of bent portions 124 a,124 b bent from a front edge of the upper sidewall 121 and lowersidewall 122 respectively, and the alignment wall 103 defines a pair ofholes 107A,107B for receiving hooks 125 a, 125 b of the bent portion 124a, 124 b of the shielding shell 12 so that the upper sidewall 121 andthe lower sidewall 122 of the shielding shell 12 can be prevented frombeing humped up and increase strength of the receptacle connector.

Further referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, it is noted that the alignmentwall 103 of the insulative housing 10 extending into the mating cavity120 from the base portion 101 to partition the mating cavity 120 intotwo mating openings 126 and 127, and one of the mating opening having ashape different from another. In the embodiment shown in the figures,the mating opening 126 is formed to a HDMI (High Definition MultimediaInterface) opening for connecting with the HDMI interface 30 of thesecond cable connector 3 or said pair of different interfaces of thesecond cable connector 2. That is, the popular HDMI interface 3 of thesecond cable connector 3 can be directly inserted into the receptacleconnector 1. Alternatively, the receptacle connector 1 can be insertedwith the first cable connector having said HDMI interface 20A andanother interface 20B. So with this construction, the receptacleconnector can be used efficiently. In preferred embodiment, the matingopening 127 is for a docking station so that the receptacle connector 1is still connecting with a docking station to expand differentinterfaces.

The insulative housing further defines an endwall 104 at outmost end ofthe base portion 101, which is opposite to the alignment wall 103, andthe shielding shell 12 defines a retention wall 1230 extending from afront edge of the endwall 123 a of the shielding shell 12. The endwall104 and the alignment wall 103 each protrude a slant portion 1041, 1031into the mating opening 126 to form said HDMI opening. A first side-face108 (shown in FIG. 4) opposite to the HDMI opening, of the alignmentwall 103 cooperates with one endwall 123 b of the shell to form saidmating opening 127. The upper sidewall 121 and the lower sidewall 122 ofthe shielding shell 12 serve as a upper side and a lower side of themating opening 126, 127 respectively, thereby the thickness of thereceptacle connector 1 can be made even thinner(shown in FIG. 8). A rearportion 128 of the upper wall 121 of the shielding shell 12 is bent downimmediate to the base portion 101 of the insulative housing 10 forpreventing the receptacle connector from EMI (see FIG. 1).

With referring to FIGS. 6 and 9, the supporting bracket 13 attached onesidewall of the shielding shell 12 by spot soldering so as to provide asteady connecting therebetween. Said structure would improve thestrength of the mating cavity 120 of the receptacle connector 1. Thesupporting bracket 13 has a main portion 131 attached the shieldingshell 12 and a pair of soldering portions 132 extending from two ends ofthe main portion 131, and there is a wonderful coplanarity between thesoldering portion 132 of the supporting bracket 13 and the mountingsurface 106 of the insulative housing 10 so that all of them can bereliably soldered to the PCB.

Return to FIGS. 1 and 2, the first cable connector 2 further including acover 22 retained to the HDMI interface 20A and another interface 20Band a pair of locking arms 21 arranged on both sides of the twointerfaces 20A, 20B of the first cable connector 2 so as to securelyinterlock the receptacle connector 1 after mated. Corresponding to thepair of locking arms 21, the cover 22 defines a pair of buttons 220 onboth sides thereof for unlocking the receptacle connector. And each ofthe buttons 220 is formed by cutting a C-shape slit on both sides of thecover 22, and a cutting opening of the C-shape slit defines toward thereceptacle connector 1 thereby improving the arm of force of locking arm21.

Referring FIGS. 10 to 11, an receptacle connector 1′ of a secondembodiment of the present invention is shown, and shows a modificationof the receptacle connector 1 illustrated in FIG. 5. The receptacleconnector 1′ comprises an insulative housing 10′, a plurality ofterminals 11′, a shielding shell 12′ and a supporting bracket 13′,similar to the above first embodiment except the shielding shell 12′ andthe supporting bracket 13′.

The shielding shell 12′ defines a upper sidewall 121′ with a bentportion 124′ extending from a front edge thereof and a lower sidewall122′ and formed a mating cavity 120′ therebetween, the supportingbracket 13′ comprises a main portion 131′ attached to the shieldingshell 12′ and a pair of soldering portions 132′ extending from two endsthereof, and the supporting bracket 13′ further defines a bent portion133′ extending from a front edge thereof, of course, the shielding shell12′ and the supporting bracket 13′ are called a metal unit too. Thealignment wall 103′ defines at least one hole 107′ for receiving a pairof hooks 125′, 135′ of a bent portion 124′, 133′ of the metal unit, andthe bent portion 133′ of the supporting bracket 13′ defines a pair ofprotect walls 136′a, 136 b′ abut against opposite sides of the alignmentwall 103′ to increase strength of the alignment wall of the receptacleconnector.

Alternatively, the mating opening 126 may be other interface such as USBinterface. The bent portions benefit the strength of the mating ports atsaid condition that the receptacle connector has a plurality of themating portions resulting in a longer length of the insulting housingand shell.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present invention have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of thestructure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrativeonly, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention tothe full extent indicated by the board general meaning of the terms inwhich the appended claims are expressed.

1. An electrical connector assembly comprising: a receptacle connectorincluding: an insulative housing having a base portion; a plurality ofterminals retained in the insulative housing; and a metal unit assembledon the insulative housing, the metal unit comprising a pair of sidewallsopposite to each other and forming a mating cavity therebetween; theinsulative housing further including an alignment wall extending intothe mating cavity from the base portion to partition the mating cavityinto a number of mating openings, one of the mating openings having ashape different from another; wherein at least one of the sidewalls ofthe metal unit has an interlock extending from a front edge thereof toengage with the alignment wall of the insulative housing.
 2. Theelectrical connector assembly as described in claim 1, wherein theinterlock includes a bent portion bent from a front edge of the metalunit and a hook at a distal end of the bent portion for retaining in thealignment wall of the insulative housing.
 3. The electrical connectorassembly as described in claim 1, wherein the insulative housing has twotongue portions extending forward from the base potion, and each of thetongue portions defines a plurality of passageways thereon for arranginga contact portion of the terminal.
 4. The electrical connector assemblyas described in claim 1, wherein the alignment wall defines a firstside-face and a second side-face, and only the second side-face definesa slant portion.
 5. The electrical connector assembly as described inclaim 3, wherein the metal unit includes a shielding shell, and saidsidewall is provide by the shielding shell, the second side-face of thealignment wall and the sidewall of the shielding shell form a HDMIopening together, and said slant portion of the second side-faceprotrudes toward the HDMI opening.
 6. The electrical connector assemblyas described in claim 1, wherein the base portion defines a concavityand forming a mounting surface therein, the shielding shell has a pairof endwalls integrally connecting the sidewalls, and each endwalldefines a solder portion.
 7. The electrical connector assembly asdescribed in claim 2, wherein a pair of the bent portions extends fromsaid pair of sidewalls respectively, and each of the bent portions hasan associated hook at the distal end thereof and secured in at least onehole of the alignment wall respectively.
 8. The electrical connectorassembly as described in claim 2, wherein the bent portion of the metalunit defines a pair of protect walls abutting against opposite sides ofthe alignment wall.
 9. The electrical connector assembly as described inclaim 7, wherein the two hooks of the bent portions are secured in thesame hole of the alignment wall.
 10. The electrical connector assemblyas described in claim 1, wherein the metal unit includes a shieldingshell and a supporting bracket attached to the shielding shell, and thesupporting bracket defines a bent portion with a hook at the distal endthereof for fastening the alignment wall of the insulative housing. 11.The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 10, wherein thebent portion of the supporting bracket defines a pair of protect wallsalong the alignment wall extending into the mating opening from twosides of the bent portion respectively.
 12. The electrical connectorassembly as described in claim 1, further including a mating connectordefining at least two mating portions adapted to be received the matingopening of the receptacle connector, respectively; and one of the matingportions has a different interface from another.
 13. The electricalconnector assembly as described in claim 12, wherein the matingconnector includes a pair of locking arms on both sides thereof, a pairof buttons corresponding to the pair of locking arms for pushing thelocking arm respectively and a cover covering the mating portion. 14.The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 13, wherein thebutton is formed by cutting a C-shape slit in both sides of the cover.15. An dual-port receptacle connector, comprising: an insulative housingdefining a receiving space therein; a partition formed in the receivingspace dividing the receiving space into first and second mating ports; afirst mating plate with a plurality of first contact terminals arrangedwithin the first cavity; a second mating plate with a plurality ofsecond contact terminals arranged within the second cavity; a metallicshell assembled to the housing and including a planar base portioncovering a top wall of the housing, and having an anchor securelyattached to the partition.
 16. An electrical connector comprising: aninsulative housing defining a vertical partition wall dividing first andsecond mating ports by two sides thereof under condition that said firstand second mating ports communicate with an exterior in front-to-backdirection; a first mating tongue extending horizontally in said firstmating port; a second mating tongue extending horizontally in saidsecond mating port; a plurality of first contacts exposed on the firstmating tongue; a plurality of second contacts exposed on the secondmating tongue; a metallic shell enclosing said housing while exposingsaid first and second mating ports to the exterior; wherein said shellincludes a locking device set retained to the partition wall.
 17. Theelectrical connector as claimed in claim 16, wherein one of said firstand second mating ports is confined by corresponding side wall of thehousing in a outwardly lateral direction perpendicular to saidfront-to-back direction.
 18. The electrical connector as claimed inclaim 16, wherein said first and second mating ports are directlyconfined by corresponding top and bottom walls of the shell in avertical direction perpendicular to both said front-to-back directionand said lateral direction.
 19. The electrical connector as claimed inclaim 18, wherein said locking device set includes upper and loweranchors respectively extending from said upper wall and said bottom wallof the shell.
 20. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16,wherein said locking device set fastened to the partition wall in thefront-to-back direction.